"Ask the Rabbi" by R. Mermelstein
QUESTION: Dear Rabbi
Mermelstein:
On my discussion list found at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GunOwnersAlliance/
I often field comments as found below:
Actually Chris, I'm moving the other way. I tried working within the system. I was a committeeman,
I worked the polls, I worked for campaigns. I found that it didn't mean squat. Unless you have a lot
of time, or a lot of money, you will never get enough pull to matter. Now I have decided to
volunteer on the rare occasion I like a candidate, and to focus on what makes a difference in my
families life - $$$. When I get some extra of those, I'll start using it to prepare for the
worse, which I think is coming.
My reply to this discouraged soldier of RKBA is a generally standard comment:
I have always told people that I would rather be defeated at least trying than to quit fighting. It is a
sure bet to lose when one throws in the towel, but as strange of a beast that politics is, who can say
to fight is useless? I fight to win. If I lose, so be it. At least I tried.
Perfect example? Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. They were so outnumbered, it was pathetic. But, they
at least died in dignity. Go to:
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/wgupris.htm
I really wonder where the RKBA soldiers are? Where is their dignity to fight even when the odds
are against them?
As the leader of the Warsaw uprising said:
The most difficult struggle of all is the one within ourselves. Let us not get accustomed and
adjusted to these conditions. The one who adjusts ceases to discriminate between good and
evil. He becomes a slave in body and soul. Whatever may happen to you, remember always:
Don't adjust! Revolt against the reality! -Mordechai Anielewicz, Warsaw, 1943
If anyone was qualified to say the above, it was Mordechai Anielewicz. May we learn from
his sacrifice, and honor his struggle. We are not where he was, at least not now. And
yet, we give up in lesser conditions than he had to face. How sad!
The way I see it we have a choice to change things now in a peaceful fashion, or do nothing
and watch society melt down to a violent, bloody revolution.
Which is easier, and less of a hassle? Activism or Revolution?
Its coming friend. Can we change things to prevent it? Guess we will never know unless we try.
I like this quote below. It has much meaning we can align ourselves to in many ways, to our
generation today:
"No class or group or party in Germany could escape its share of responsibility for the
abandonment of the democratic Republic and the advent of Adolph Hitler. The cardinal
error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it. ....the
63% of the German people who expressed their opposition to Hitler were much too divided
and shortsighted to combine against a common danger which they must have known would
overwhelm them unless they united, HOWEVER TEMPORARY, to stamp it out."
-William L. Shirer, author of "The rise and fall of the Third Reich" p.259
.....they who do not learn from History are DOOMED to repeat it!!
Your family always comes first. Take the break you need and then get back in the fight. We
all need this breather at one point or another. But we ultimately need you.
Rabbi, sometimes I wish I had additional wisdom to defeat a very common enemy within our ranks, known as discouragement.
Is there anything additionally you could think of that could help to
heal the wounds of discouragement? I am open to your suggestions.
Sincerely,
Gun Owners Alliance
Chris W. Stark - Director
02 August 2004
ANSWER: Dear Chris,
Discouragement is a mindset that
occurs when it looks for all practical purposes that the cause is
completely lost. Combat soldiers in a no-win situation suffer from
this. So do political activists, either those activists working for a
lobbyist paycheck or us common people working for a better America. I
was never convinced that our cause is lost. Much to the contrary, we
now have Shall Issue carry permit laws in 35 of our 50 states. I'd say
that's progress. In addition, due to heavy grass roots activism we will
hopefully see the sunset of the infamous Brady Law on September 13th of
this year. Were it not for your phone calls, faxes and letters we'd be
saddled with this worst piece of anti-firearms legislation ever to be
drafted for ten more years. Wouldn't you agree that this is living
proof of the power of activism?
Another point to consider is that work we do now may not bear fruits
during our lifetimes. That didn't stop the framers of our Declaration
of Independence who all had a price on their heads courtesy of King
George II. They were, in today's parlance, whacked out extremists ready
to lay it all on the line for future generations. We owe it to them, if
not to our children and our children’s children, to maintain America as
a bastion of individual freedom. No, nothing in America has ever
been perfect. But after living as a resident, not as a tourist, on two
continents other than North America I can personally attest to freedoms
we take for granted that aren't found in any other place on this
planet. Did you know that even a person granted a permit to own a
firearm in Israel is only allowed 100 rounds of ammunition per year, or
that in the 1980s while I was still a post-graduate rabbinical student
in the Republic of South Africa a full two months elapsed between
submitting an application to purchase any firearm, long gun or handgun,
and being able to take possession of it from the firearms dealer? As a
footnote, during that time the South African government passed a law
that limited citizens from owning more than twelve firearms. Not a
mention of the pending legislation was made known to the media. It
passed and became law without a challenge, literally overnight.
Now, you feel discouraged that your activism is akin to beating your
head on the wall? Quite to the contrary, I assure you! Politicians
value one thing above all else. That one thing is their incumbency.
They float with the tides. You can dedicate yourself to making life
better for your family temporarily, but without being politically
astute and above all active, you are in fact harming your family if not
today then future generations yet to come.
Stay in the fight! When the going gets tough, the tough grow thicker hides and fight harder!
Sincerely,
R. Mermelstein
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